Classroom Management--Home School Style

Touring a bookstore last week, I spied a book no teacher can resist: Basics of Classroom Management. While I didn’t find many tips in a book that focused on strategies for managing large groups of children in an institutional setting, I began thinking, “Are there basic strategies for managing our home learning?” My picks.

Set a basic routine—complete with start and stop times.  Our family seems to get more out of school when we set actual school hours. We make the start time fit our family’s style and priorities Because we have both morning chores and children who tend more toward night owl than early bird, we start at 9:00. I know some families who start earlier--others who have a different start time based on the day. Yet, the families who set a routine seem better focused on schooling.

Just as important—have a stop time. In our early years, Mike would come home at 6:00 to find us still plugging away because “I haven’t finished the list for today.” Seeing the exhaustion in all our faces, he finally put his foot down. Gently. “Honey, the teachers at school have to stop at 3:15, even if they haven’t finished their lists, because the school buses come to take the kids away. Be done at 3:00. It will be OK.”  Sure enough, he was right. While all of life is learning, school seems to work best on fixed hours.

Ensure lap-time equity. While many public school teachers have the dilemma of knowing where to place all the chairs, home schooling parents must strategically plan lap time. Whether it’s mastering reading skills or math strategies, somehow it comes easier in a lap. Each child must have equal access. Though teens probably won’t beg for the spot—ensuring one-on-one time for them to have full attention and close physical proximity seems just as important as for the toddlers.

Reserve time for hands-on activities every day. People remember far more what they do than what they hear about.  When I’m in my “complete the list” mode, I often choose to read the book rather than do the experiment. My classroom management manual encourages me to flip this strategy. In planning classes for this year I need to remember to force myself to do the experiment or make the puppet—even if I must skim the reading. While we may not get every detail, we’ll all remember what we’ve done, and we’ll actually learn more from the lesson.

Added benefit—doing the experiments indelibly teaches children the limits of science. Science is the leading rival for worship in our culture. Experiments read from a book always sound so precise, and they always work. When actually doing them, we learn that the experiments don’t always work. They aren’t as precise as they might seem. A consistent exposure to these lessons enables our children to develop both respect for science and awareness of its limits.

Get outside. Home schooling families are frequently, and sometimes appropriately, accused of being too insulated. It’s an easy pattern to develop. With so much on our plates—school, house, chores, church activities—we can be so focused on just getting done with our foci that we lose track of others. The act of stepping out the front door reminds us we are part of a larger world. A larger world that needs our attention. A larger world that should be the object of all the discipleship we are building into our children. Purpose to get outside. Just gazing on neighbors' doors can cause us to pray for them, greet them in the yard, and ask how they are doing. As country dwellers, just outside our family's doors are farm fields and woods. Stepping outside reminds us of the beauty of God’s creation and our responsibility to tend it well. Classroom management that gets us all beyond the classroom helps us apply what we’re learning to the world that needs our perspectives and care.

Though still relishing a summer break, in the back of my mind I'm already planning next year. With a little focus on managing our classroom, I pray God makes this the best year yet. What strategies work for you?

Tess Worrell writes and speaks to groups regarding issues of family life and living as a Godly woman. She and husband, Mike Worrell, live in Madison, Indiana, where they are in their 14th year of home schooling. She would love to hear your insights. Comment here or email her at tess@YourFamilyMatterstous.com. If you would like Tess to speak to your home school or church group, you can learn more about her speaking at YourFamilyMatterstous.com.

By The Will Of God

Ever had one of those days when you wonder if you're really up to the job of parenting?  I have. Some days I think of other mothers I know, and I'm quite sure they're probably doing a much better job of it than I.  Lord, how could you have entrusted me with these children?

Enter Colossians.  I warn you; if you don't want to be changed, stay away from God's Word.  If, on the other hand, you know your mind desperately needs renewing, then dive in.  If you want the biggest impact, commit it to memory.  You will never be the same.  It's exhilarating.  It gets inside your mind, deep into your heart, and even under your skin in a good sort of convicting way.

Okay, you've probably guessed; I've been memorizing Colossians.  And I didn't get past the first verse before it changed my outlook.  It just might change yours, too.  The book (the letter) opens with this:

"Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ,

by the will of God. . ."

Stop right there.  "Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ, by the will of God. . ."  His identity was wholly wrapped up in the will of God.  Who he was, where he was, his calling, his mission, and his role were all by the will of God.  And it came through in everything.  He opens five of his letters that way, and implies it at the beginning of three more of them.

Do you ever wish you could be that certain?  I mean in your particular role and calling.  In my case, Carol, husband to Scott, by the will of God; mother to Vera, by the will of God; mother to. . . here in Indiana.  You get the idea.  Try putting your own name in.  "____, ________, by the will of God."

Maybe that seems awkward, but if you are a believer in Jesus, you can be just as sure. He is working out His sovereign will in your life just as surely as He did in Paul's life, or Peter's, or any of those other famous guys' lives in the beginning days of His church. Very same God, you know.  And Peter reassured us in his second letter (II Peter 1:1) that we have received the same kind of faith as theirs.

We can be sure of our calling as His children and in the roles in which He has placed us. Not only that, but as Paul explained to the people in Athens, God even determines when and where we will live, so we can rest assured in that, too.  (Acts 17:24-27)

Listen in on Paul's prayer for the saints at Colossae,

". . . we have not ceased to pray for you

and to ask that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will

 in all spiritual wisdom and understanding, so that

you may walk in a manner worthy of the Lord,

to please Him in all respects, bearing fruit in every good work,

and increasing in the knowledge of God;

strengthened with all power, according to His glorious might,

for the attaining of all steadfastness and patience;

joyously giving thanks to the Father,

who has qualified us to share in the inheritance of the saints in light."

Colossians 1:9-12

(emphasis mine)

When His wise sovereign will slips out of our focus, when we are filled with something other than the knowledge of His will, we get discouraged and down, questioning our calling, doubting the success of our mission, and we are tempted to give up.  All we can see are the challenges in front of us, which seem to mount by the minute and even gather strength against us.

But if, instead, we are filled with the knowledge of His will, then we understand that our circumstances are part of His elaborate plan for our good and His glory.  And we understand what He desires of us--those good works He has planned for us to do (Ephesians 2:10).  Then our trust is in Him, we are strengthened by His power, we can be patient and steadfast, and we bear fruit, because we know it isn't all up to us.  Even as we wait on His timing or an answer to prayer, we have a confidence that comes from knowing that He will accomplish His will in our lives.  We can be "joyously giving thanks" because we have a living hope (I Peter I:3) that rests in His will.

This "being filled with the knowledge of His will" is so very crucial that Epaphras, who had brought the gospel to Colossae, was "always laboring earnestly in his prayers" for the Colossian believers that they would "stand perfect and fully assured in all the will of God." Colossians 4:12 (emphasis mine)

I think we can be pretty sure that the answer to that prayer wouldn't be a discouraged person who says, "I just can't do this. . . Lord, this just isn't working!"  When we begin to doubt the roles we have, or the callings we've been given, we must remember that our sovereign God makes no mistakes.  Our identity--our calling, our role, who we are, where we are--is wholly wrapped up in His will.

Let us, too, earnestly ask the Lord that He would make us stand fully assured in all the will of God; that He would strengthen us with His power, according to His glorious might; and that we would steadfastly, patiently, and joyously give thanks, as we trust in His wisdom and His will.

"Now the God of peace,

who brought up from the dead the great Shepherd of the sheep. . . 

equip you in every good thing to do His will,

working in us that which is pleasing in His sight,

through Jesus Christ, to whom be the glory forever and ever.

Amen."

Hebrews 13:20-21

(emphasis mine)

P.S.  If you're looking for some especially encouraging Scriptures, I think you'll find Colossians 1, I Peter 1, and II Peter 1 are absolutely amazing.

Homeschooling with her husband, Scott, since 2001, Carol believes nothing is too difficult for God.  She is a passionate encourager and loves using creative means--including writing music, singing, speaking, and blogging--to encourage others to trust God through all the adventures He calls them to.  You can read more from her at her Unsmotherable Delight blog (udelight.blogspot.com), where you'll find faith-filled original songs, favorite scriptures, family stories, and even a little film about adoption, all designed to inspire and lift your spirit.  Her original 'theme song' titled Captain's Anthem can be heard on Vimeo at http://vimeo.com/30769152.

Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.

Addressing Attitude with Grace

Which would you rather face—the child who openly defies or the child who behaves compliantly but the attitude just isn’t right?

I have to admit--there are times I prefer the compliant child. I get the behavior I expect, and I can so easily overlook the underlying issues. To be more blunt—the underlying sin. When life is crazy busy with more on my plate than I can ever hope to accomplish, the subtle sins get pushed to the back burner with the hope they will just go away.

But, our Lord tells us they don’t. He tells us the heart controls everything. The evil we do comes from the heart. Matthew 15:19. The cure is loving God with all our heart. Matthew 22:37. So when my child obeys but the heart isn’t in it, I need to address this behavior head-on.

Step 1: Seek to understand. As hard as it can be to admit, sometimes I read my children wrongly. Sometimes I interpret attitude as rebellion when it’s only confusion. If I sense my child’s compliance being less than whole-hearted, I first ask, “What’s going on?” as patiently and gently as I can. This opens the door for my child to ask questions or seek further instruction that might be needed.

Sometimes, rather than confusion, my child’s underlying attitude stems from resentment—not of the chore, but of me. When I’ve tagged the same child for dozens of chores while siblings have been left to their own activities, when I’ve expected more than I should, or when I’ve failed to show the appreciation their past efforts deserved—I’ve created the situation where child’s reaction, justifiably, can be “Again?!”

When I seek first to understand, I gain the information needed to deal with the situation as it is rather than as I assume it is. Looking first to the planks in my own eye before addressing the attitude in my child.

Step 2: Address attitude for the harbinger of heart that it is. If child’s heart truly rebels against obedience, this attitude should be addressed even if child fulfills the request. Our conversation focuses on how the bad attitude reveals a wrong relationship toward me in their heart. Questions usually work best.

“Honey, you’re saying you ‘just don’t feel like taking out the trash.’ How do you think it makes me feel when you flash a look of resentment and sigh heavily when I ask you to help me? How would God feel if you behaved that way when He asked you to do something? More importantly than how this feels to God or me--is what you are doing right?” The purpose of the questions is to get child’s thinking off themselves and onto the expectations of God—measuring their conduct and heart by His measure. A wonderful resource for guiding this process—Parenting with Scripture by Kara Durbin. The book offers a topical guide for addressing attitudes by scripture.

Disobedience comes in all forms—behavior and attitude. All reflect our child’s heart, so all need to be made right with Him. When we focus on the heart, however it’s revealed, we enter a discipling relationship that yields God’s fruit.

Tess Worrell writes and speaks to groups regarding issues of family life and living as a Godly woman. She and husband, Mike Worrell, live in Madison, Indiana, where they are in their 14th year of home schooling. She would love to hear your insights. Comment here or email her at tess@YourFamilyMatterstous.com. If you would like Tess to speak to your home school or church group, you can learn more about her speaking at YourFamilyMatterstous.com.

A Disturbing Trend

"I just wanted to say good-bye," said a mom standing on our front porch with her daughter--a young lady I had watched in our co-op since she was a little girl. "We won't be home schooling next year. I wanted to see you in case we don't run into each other."

Her face revealed how difficult the decision had been. Her husband was out of work. Her perfect part-time job was being eliminated. She needed to find full-time work, so daughter would be going to school.

As I gave her a hug, I wondered, "Another one?"

The issue hits home for our family. With a now-disabled husband, our income cut 40%--I'm not sure how long we can keep going. The issue of "will I be able to home school?" has loomed large and consistently in our struggles. We have cut our lifestyle and I've sought more speaking bookings just so I can keep the home school going. But, it's tough. As I've seen families all around us handle their economic crises by mom returning to work and the kids to school, I've wondered, "Is that us?"


How can the home schooling community counter this growing trend?

A few questions might help.

Is each home schooling family living in a financially responsible way? Do we have savings? Are we cutting debt? IS each of us working so that we can share with those in need? Eph. 4:28. The financial strain on most home schooling families is  huge--most of us already live on one income. Before crisis,I felt we were doing a great job if we could buy school books on our limited budget. I didn't see how we could plan for more savings. But, on the other side of crisis, I would urge families to try. My husband's commitment to no debt freed us greatly to keep home schooling.

Is the home schooling community living in a financially responsible way? Do we hire other home schoolers? Do we buy products from home schooling entrepreneurs to keep their income going? Are we ready to financially help struggling families? Our family school has survived precisely because people have helped--mostly home schoolers and our church. People have taken seriously God's command to reach out in support which has allowed me, stepping out in faith, to plan for another year. How many don't have that support?

We have wonderful people working on the governmental side to guard against the legal attacks on home schooling. Our home schooling communities have developed superb response mechanisms to these.

But, Satan isn't stupid. He's flanking us. Economic hardships have become a huge opportunity for him to take out families. Has our community recognized this threat? Are we developing responses to this attack? The legislative efforts won't mean much if families simply quit because they can't hang in there financially.

The good news? God knows the struggle and has a plan for it. If home schooling is God's will, He will provide for it. Perhaps, as wonderful an opportunity as this is for Satan to defeat us, it's an even greater opportunity for God to pull us together. Perhaps God is strengthening the community through causing us to care for each other in tangible ways that not only build us but witness to His love for the world in a way that draws others into His family.

I don't know all the answers, but I would plead with home schoolers to find them. Let's not ignore the threat. Let's not miss the opportunity.  Let's reverse the trend.


Tess Worrell writes and speaks to groups regarding issues of family life and living as a Godly woman. She and husband, Mike Worrell, live in Madison, Indiana, where they are in their 14th year of home schooling. She would love to hear your insights. Comment here or email her at tess@YourFamilyMatterstous.com. If you would like Tess to speak to your home school or church group, you can learn more about her speaking at YourFamilyMatterstous.com.

Bird Mother Philosophy: Part III

Strangely, this is one of the hardest posts I've ever tried to write; it seems everything got in the way of writing it.  I am now wondering if there is some spiritual warfare going on over it, as the stakes in this endeavor of home education are incredibly high.  For even if we start strongly, with biblical reasons for homeschooling, Satan may subsequently distract us from a biblical educational framework, essentially pulling an educational bait-and-switch routine.  If, all the while, we still think we're doing the right thing, then the Enemy has won a significant victory over us, and we may not even realize it.

"I say this so no one may delude you with persuasive argument.

For even though I am absent in body, nevertheless I am with you in spirit,

rejoicing to see your good discipline and the stability of your faith in Christ.

As you therefore have received Christ Jesus the Lord,

so walk in Him,

having been firmly rooted

and now being built up in Him and established in your faith,

just as you were instructed,

and overflowing with gratitude.

See to it that no one take you captive

through philosophy and empty deception,

according to the tradition of men,

according to the elementary principles of the world,

rather than according to Christ.

For in Him all the fullness of Deity dwells in bodily form,

and in Him you have been made complete,

and He is the head over all rule and authority. . ." 

Colossians 2:4-10

[emphasis mine]

So how about that background check?  (See The Bird Mother Philosophy:  Part II)  Have you learned something about where the ideas and philosophies behind your educational methods have come from?  I've been doing some investigating of my own, with both reassuring and alarming results.  Some of the ideas I have been investigating are ones I have actually used and others have only been recommended to me.

Here are some examples of what I've discovered:

One philosophy of education comes from the ideas of an educator, most of whose ideas seem to be in line with biblical principles, who believed that children could comprehend much, even when very young, and should not be talked down to.

In another case, I found an entire framework for a very popular educational system based on ideas which are rather child-demeaning, from a woman who neither was an educator, nor raised any children, who admitted that she was unqualified to address the topic of education, and is known for both feminist writings and humanist ideas.

At the heart of another homeschool methodology, I found the idea that each child's spirit came from the spirit world and will be reincarnated into another body after it's current life. Shocking, yes, yet this idea is more common than you'd suspect.

At the opposite extreme, another system begins with laying a scriptural foundation of truth and then measures everything else against it.

In contrast to the "The Bird Mother Philosophy," one method starts with the idea that a child will construct his own thinking and should be left alone to explore a prepared environment, without direct instruction.

I started this series with an introduction to what I called "The Bird Mother Philosophy." The name given by its foremost advocate is Mediated Learning, and its central idea is basically this:  A child learns to think and reason well, which lays the groundwork for future independent learning, when the parent acts intentionally as mediator between the world and the child, preparing the child for encountering the world and presenting and explaining the world to the child.  This mediator supplies and explains meaning beyond the topic at hand, as well as how the topic at hand affects other areas of life.  I mention it, not to promote a particular construct of man as infallible, but simply to use it as an example of an educational philosophy which does seem to be consistent with God's revealed truth found in His word and consistent with what we observe in God's created world.

I honestly was amazed at the wide spectrum of ideas I discovered behind many popular homeschooling methods.  Some of the most alarming, which either contradict Biblical principles or are based on pagan worldviews, have a presence at even the more conservative homeschool convention exhibit halls.  I have come to realize that living by the oft quoted maxim, "All truth is God's truth," could land us in trouble if we are not discerning.  Perhaps it would be more accurate to say, "Not all so-called truth is really truth."  After all, just because it's called truth doesn't mean it is.  If it's not consistent with God's truth, it's not truth at all.

Since teaching our children is one of the most significant things that we will do as followers of Christ, it would follow that we would certainly apply the teachings in the Bible that relate to our Christian walk to the context of our children's education.  Paul instructs in I Corinthians 3:9-15 that we be careful how we build.  The Galatians, who started strongly anchored in Christ, were confronted by Paul for being bewitched into following man's teaching instead of Christ's.

God's truth, revealed in scripture, ought to be not only the catapult that launches us into homeschooling, but it should continue to drive, permeate, and purify our educational philosophy and methods.  If, after a biblical launch, we subsequently land on, and ride on, from there on out, a philosophical and methodological bandwagon driven by ideas not consistent with biblical principles, we are heading straight over a cliff.

Together let's press on to walk in Christ in our educational choices, seeing to it that we are not taken captive by empty deception, and recognizing that He is the head over all rule and authority, taking His Word as our starting point, the heart of all we do, and our final authority.  For how could we ever expect to see godly fruit produced from unbiblical roots?

Homeschooling with her husband, Scott, since 2001, Carol believes nothing is too difficult for God.  She is a passionate encourager and loves using creative means--including writing music, singing, speaking, and blogging--to encourage others to trust God through all the adventures He calls them to.  You can read more from her at her Unsmotherable Delight blog (udelight.blogspot.com), where you'll find faith-filled original songs, favorite scriptures, family stories, and even a little film about adoption, all designed to inspire and lift your spirit.  Her original 'theme song' titled Captain's Anthem can be heard on Vimeo at http://vimeo.com/30769152.


Scripture quotations taken from the NASB.